


Forest Shrine

by wilted



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spirits, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Drowning, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-23 23:35:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19711798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wilted/pseuds/wilted
Summary: They say there's a demon in the forest shrine.





	1. Chapter 1

Izumi Iori has never been a disobedient child. He would always do his chores, always wash his hands, and would never eat more dessert than he was allowed. He always cleaned up after himself and always had his homework done before it was due.

But he’s always been intrigued by the forest shrine, the one every child has been told to stay away from, should they wander into the forest. Never wander off the path, the adults say. A demon lives there, they say. As a child, Iori believed them, but as he grew he began to doubt the existence of things such as ghosts and demons. Iori likes to think of himself as a man of logic, and though the villagers all seem to believe in demons, the science says otherwise.

Still, that’s not the only reason the shrine intrigues him. What really intrigues him is the pale pink haired boy (a man now, really, but he can’t help but think of him as such after so many years of knowing but not knowing) with pinkish brown eyes that has come to the village every few days for years. The boy is around Iori’s age, and after the first few years, he began coming with a brown dog. He buys enough food to feed a family of four for a week and then disappears into the forest. From the gossip Iori hears, the boy is an _angel_ , for having to deal with the demon.

The conclusion Iori comes to is that the boy lives at the shrine, and lives with the demon. He’s had to work for this just by observing for years because he admittedly doesn’t feel comfortable asking around. It makes it feel like he’s doing something he’s not supposed to, trying to get information about someone that he doesn’t actually know. So he settled for this alternate, much lengthier process.

It takes months after he figures it out for him to actually make his move. Iori is still wary of the shrine. Iori may not believe in demons, but that doesn’t change the fact that five years ago, a classmate and his sister went into the forest but only one came out alive. The classmate’s sister’s body was found a day later, and only a week later did the classmate return to the forest. They never saw any sign of him again, dead or alive. Obviously, something happened, demon or not.

It’s a day when Iori has had slightly less sleep than usual, and his judgment is clearly lacking. The pale pink haired boy is in the village, and Iori decides that today is the day. Today is the day he will be an idiot. It’s halfway into the forest that he wonders if he shouldn’t have done this, but it’s too late because he’s already too far in to really back out at this point. He can’t bring himself to turn back when he’s so close to finding out more about this mystery that’s been at the back of his mind like an itch he can’t scratch for _years_. But when the shrine is in sight and the boy turns around Iori instantly regrets everything he’s ever done in his life that has led up to this moment and desperately wishes he could evaporate on the spot. No such mercy is granted.

“Who are you,” the boy says, though it's less a question and more a command, “Show yourself. Now.”

Iori really, really, _really_ wishes the ground would just open up and take him down into the void so he won’t have to deal with the consequences of his dumb actions. Apparently, that’s not the right thing to do because the boy seems to get impatient. The dog, a Saint Bernese, probably, just stands beside the boy. Iori idly wonders if he could just use the excuse of wanting to pet the dog because it’s so cute. Probably not.

“Riku isn’t here right now. Leave. Tell whoever sent you to stop bothering us.” This catches Iori’s attention. He has no idea who _Riku_ is, nor was he sent by anyone. The fact that his first assumption was that Iori was sent by someone for _Riku_ has Iori’s mind going more than a mile a minute. He has to stop himself though because if they regularly have people being sent after them then Iori could be seen as a threat and that’s really not what he was going for when he decided to come here. So he steps out from his hiding spot and tries to steady himself as he prepares to explain why he’s following them. The boy raises an eyebrow, and the dog is standing there, steady like it has been since the beginning. Iori takes a deep br

“Tenn-nii!” there’s a loud noise as the door is slammed open and a red haired teenager runs out with a Russian Blue cat on his heels. Emphasis on the blue, because Iori has never seen a cat that looked _that_ blue before. And he has a collection of cat photos hidden away in the cute owl pattern box in the plain, unassuming cardboard box that’s labeled _supplies_ under his bed.

The appearance of this new person makes the pink haired boy sigh. Iori doesn’t blame him. Just from what he knows, no one really lives in this shrine except for the demon and this pink haired boy. Assuming there are only two of them, then that would make the red haired one the so called demon. The pale pink haired boy had also clearly just said that _Riku_ wasn’t here, and it didn’t take much to figure out that _Riku_ was probably the name of the demon.

So here he was. Standing in front of what was probably the demon that he’d been told to stay away from all his life. And as he watched the two converse (pink sounded exasperated while red had a smile on his face) he couldn’t help but find the demon cute.

“Ah! Iorin!” he hears, from a voice that’s neither of the two people in front of him. In fact, neither of them know his name, and there’s only one person who ever called him that. Said person was missing. Likely dead, actually. So maybe Iori’s a little confused when he looks around expecting to see the ghost of the classmate who had vanished years ago but finds nothing.

“Iorin..?” the red haired one tilts his head, looking at the cat. No. No way.

“Yeah! Iorin! We went to school together!” Iori has to be hallucinating. The cat just spoke. Except, he rubs his eyes and there's no cat anymore, instead, there’s a teenager with light blue hair and steel blue eyes. Combined with the nickname, he can’t help but think of Yotsuba Tamaki, the classmate he once had. But it’s impossible, because Yotsuba is dead, or at least missing.

“Hey, hey Iorin, you remember me right? Tamaki!” the teenager waves a hand in front of Iori’s face as if Iori can’t see him. Iori absentmindedly swats his hand away and the other just pouts.

Alright, maybe Iori is wrong. But he hasn’t ruled out the possibility that this whole thing is a fever dream because holy shit this is weird.

* * *

Mitsuki is somewhat concerned when his brother disappears in the middle of the day. He doesn’t think much of it at first; perhaps he just went out of his way to go to a place he could enjoy cute things without anyone who knew him around. (He knows about the cat pictures, Iori, y’ain’t slick.) God knows it isn’t the first time he’s done it before. What really concerns him is that he’s gone for longer than usual. Iori tends to come back within a couple of hours, but the sun is starting to come down and there’s no sign of him anywhere. Mitsuki knows Iori is capable of taking care of himself, but he can’t help but want to look for him just in case.

In the end, he doesn’t have to. Iori comes home just before Mitsuki leaves the house to begin to gather people for his search party. He was dazed, but unharmed. The rest of the night is Mitsuki occasionally checking in on his brother who seems to have ascended from the mortal plane and reached a higher state of being. It’s only just before Mitsuki goes to bed does Iori finally say something. It’s not at all what Mitsuki expects.

“Nii-san...I...think I might have a crush on a demon,” Iori says.

“Well, was he cute?” Mitsuki asks. Iori just buries his face in his hands and makes a noise that resembles the sound of a dying whale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shout out to my friend for listening to me cry about idol boys


	2. Chapter 2

From birth, it has been Tenn, Riku, their father, and Tsumugi. Takanashi Tsumugi was the goddess of the shrine they maintained and lived in, though she insisted they just call her by her name without honorifics. Tsumugi helps take care of him and Riku when their father is busy, telling them stories and teaching them what she can. She helps take care of Riku especially, whose body is too weak for the abundance of magic he has.

It’s peaceful and nice, even though there are times he wishes he could spend more time with their father. Riku is almost always bedridden, and when he’s not he’s not allowed to leave the shrine just for safety. The villagers don’t like him. Tenn can tell, the rare times he goes to the village with his father. He’s always on his best behavior because he doesn’t want to be a burden. The villagers call him an _angel_ and then begin to talk about Riku, calling him a _demon_. Tenn hates it.

It becomes just the three of them; just Tenn, Riku and Tsumugi, when their father leaves. Tenn is 7 years old when it happens. Their father couldn’t take the stress of trying to take care of the whole shrine and two children and the rumors of Riku being a _demon_ whenever he goes into the village. From then on Tsumugi becomes their main caretaker. Tenn becomes the new guardian of the shrine.

Between learning about his new duties as guardian, making sure he keeps up with his education and looking after Riku, he barely has any time to himself. It’s not bad though. Tsumugi helps him when she can, even though she doesn’t have to, and though both of them insist he really shouldn’t Riku is insistent on helping out on the days he feels good. Tenn would much rather he read his books than push himself when he gets tired because he wants to finish what he started. Their father had always said they were both stubborn.

His life stays the same for 4 years. The days blend together with the same weekly routine. He wakes up early in the morning and slips out of his futon. Riku sleeps next to him in his own futon, tired from having stayed up late the night before while reading. Tsumugi is making breakfast today, so he’s not surprised when he walks into the kitchen and sees the goddess already at it. He takes a seat at the table, content with the small time he has to do nothing at all.

“Good morning,” Tsumugi says.

“Good morning,” Tenn responds. They talk about nothing while the food cooks. It’s a relaxing, familiar atmosphere that comforts Tenn, until the topic shifts a bit.

“All shrines have guard dogs, right? I’ve seen the statues, but do we have the actual gods?” Tenn asks. He’s always been curious, ever since he learned of them.

“Yes! Gaku-san and Tsunashi-san! They’ve been sleeping for a while...but they’re still here!” she says with a smile, “They were very kind and nice to be around...I hope you two will be able to meet them someday as well!”

Tsumugi is like Riku. They wear their hearts on their sleeves, and Tenn can easily tell Tsumugi misses them. He can’t say anything though, as the conversation ends when Riku walks into the kitchen rubbing his eyes and Tsumugi asks Tenn to set the table.

Just after lunch finds Tenn at the inner shrine. In one hand he holds two talismans, the ink having only just dried, in the other hand is a stick he found on the ground. He’s not entirely sure if he can do what he’s planning. Riku certainly would be able to, but there’s a reason they were sleeping for so long. He takes a deep breath to prepare himself, and slaps the talismans on the two dog-like statues.

“Wake up you lazy fucks, Tsumugi misses you,” he says, smacking one of the two statues with the stick. He feels the familiar prick (it's less of a prick this time and more like he suddenly ran a marathon, but he ignores it and endures) that he always feels when his magic is used, and takes a step back just seconds before there’s a puff of smoke.

When the smoke clears, there are two men. One has matching gray hair and eyes, while the other has brown hair and yellow eyes. They’re both tall, much taller than the 11 year old Tenn.

“Where is the one who woke us,” the gray one begins to speak, “Show yourself so that you may be deemed worthy and-”

“Gaku, look down, look down!” the other one whispers loudly. The gray one, who Tenn assumes is Gaku, does as he says. There’s maybe a minute of a grown man and a child having a staring contest before the silence is broken.

“What the fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when u spend 300 stellar stones and get 1 ssr...riku im dying please


	3. Chapter 3

It’s a bright sunny day. The skies are clear with no signs of rain, the temperature is _just right_ , not too hot and not too cold. The stars have aligned for Nanase Riku, because it’s a perfect day to go for a walk. It’s a rare day where his body doesn’t feel weak, where he doesn’t feel like he’s trudging through molasses when he moves. He’s already talked to Tenn-nii about it; he’s allowed so long as he takes Toma-san with him.

He skips down the halls, laughing as he ignores his familiar’s barks warning him of his health. He waves to Tsumugi as he passes her on his way out, and calls out to Tsunashi-san and his older brother setting up a garden when he bursts out of the front door. Yaotome-san is at his part time job, so Riku isn’t surprised that he doesn’t see the god on his way out.

“Riku! Stop running,” Toma-san yells at him for what feels like the millionth time.

“Eheh, sorry,” he says, though he’s really not sorry and he knows Toma-san knows from the way he huffs. Riku stops to take a deep breath of the forest air. He loves the colors of autumn, the orange and red and yellows of the leaves and the difference from the bright green of summer not too long ago.

“So? Where are we going?” Toma-san asks. The dog spirit is noticeably calmer now that Riku has stopped running He notices that he doesn’t take his human form and frowns just a bit. Toma-san is likely thinking of his health, but Riku is fine. In fact, he’s been better than he’s ever been, ever since Toma-san became his familiar. He’s certain he’d be fine if Toma-san used more of his magic, but Toma-san has only taken the minimal amount ever since he found out the preteen boy was sick.

“Hm...can we go to the river today? I won’t go in, I promise!” he insists, seeing Toma-san’s skeptical look. The dog huffs once more, knowing no matter what he says they’ll be going to the river regardless. Rather than giving an answer, he just goes first, rolling his eyes as he hears Riku cheering quietly.

They stop when the river is in sight. Already there are two human children playing right at the edge, both with light blue hair. One is around Riku’s age while the other is younger. Siblings most likely. It’s an unusual thing to see when most humans tend to avoid the forest out of fear of the rumored demon. Toma stops Riku before he can go close enough to be noticed.

“I wanna play with them..!” Riku whines when Toma stops him.

“Didn’t you say you weren’t going to go in the water?” Toma barks. Riku just pouts, “Besides, it’s too dangerous. If you can’t tell, they’re human.”

Riku’s eyes seem to light up when he hears the two children are human like him. Toma realizes his mistake and groans. Still, he can’t let Riku be seen in case they figure out he’s the so called demon. They’ve probably seen the other brat and seeing some other kid in the forest would be an obvious red flag to anyone with more than two brain cells.

“We’re going to wait until they leave. Then you can go take a look at the river for however long you want,” Toma says. Riku begins to whine once more but a sharp look from Toma makes him give a defeated noise.

So they sit there, a child (no matter how much Riku insists he’s technically a teenager now, Toma snorts and says 13 barely counts) and a dog. They play shiritori for 20 minutes before there’s a scream. The worst scenarios briefly run through Toma’s mind, but he looks towards the source of the sound and he sees the river but there is no one there. Riku is doing the same and seems to have come to the same conclusion he has.

“Don’t!” Toma yells but it’s too late because Riku has already gotten up and run off to try and find them. Toma clicks his tongue and chases after his contractor, cursing under his breath. If he can’t stop Riku, he may as well try to minimize the damage, he thinks to himself as he feels magic course through his body. He goes from a standard Boxer dog to a more wolf-like creature, as large as a horse. He slips under Riku, and he feels the boy clutching his fur as he runs downstream. He can hear him struggling to breathe and wants to scold him but they don’t have the time for that now because Riku won’t listen and Toma doesn’t want to admit it but he’s concerned too.

It takes what feels like hours they stop. Riku shakily gets off and Toma-san doesn’t hesitate to jump in the water. He comes out not long after with the older one in his mouth. He looks like he’s sleeping, but there’s something extremely unsettling about everything.

“He’s not breathing,” he says to Riku quickly before going in the water. Riku can only stare in horror. He slowly sits down, his legs giving up on him. He reaches out to the boy his age with shaking hands. Remembering what he’s read, he tries to find a pulse. He tries both wrists and then moves on to the neck, finding nothing all three times. Convinced he’s not doing it right, he desperately does it over and over again until he feels a nudge at his shoulder. He looks up and Toma-san is there, still in his giant wolf-like state. The other child has been taken out of the water and he’s shaking his head.

“He’s gone,” Toma-san says. But that can’t be right. Riku’s just doing it wrong, he’s sure. He ignores his familiar’s words and keeps trying. They can’t be dead, he thinks, and that’s all he remembers before he blacks out.

* * *

Tamaki wakes up. He doesn’t understand. The last thing he remembers is Aya slipping into the water and then trying to save her and then a rush of water he couldn’t escape from. He takes a while to collect himself before he realizes he’s on the back of a giant wolf, and there’s a red haired kid sleeping in front of him. He also feels different in a way he can’t explain.

“Are you awake?” a voice asks. Tamaki is too disoriented to realize it’s the wolf that speaks until it snaps at him with a small, “I’m right here, dumbass.”

“Huh?” is Tamaki’s intelligent response.

“You died,” the wolf says.

“Then how am I here?” Tamaki says. Despite his confusion, he’s come to the conclusion that the wolf is dumb. If he was dead, there was no way for him to be here and clearly alive. He even pinched his cheek to check, and he felt pain.

“Riku brought you back, the fucking idiot,” the wolf said. Tamaki makes a confused noise, which prompts the wolf to explain further, “Basically, you’re a familiar now. You’re alive by the magic of the other kid on my back. If he ever orders you to do something you’ll feel compelled to do it, but other than that you can live normally. Which is why I’m dropping you off at your village.”

There’s not much to talk about afterwards, really. Tamaki is tired and still extremely confused by everything. He hopes Aya is just missing because no words were said about her, and then the wolf and the kid are gone and he’s back at home like nothing happened except everything happened. He’s overwhelmed and he doesn’t remember much once he tries to think back on it, he realizes once he collapses onto his bed. He doesn’t want to remember it, really. It’s the day after he returns that Aya’s body is found and he is forced to accept that she is gone. The days that follow are empty and hollow. There is nothing for him in his daily life.

It’s a few weeks after his whole world has been flipped does he remember the wolf and the boy. He remembers the strange words, the memory of thinking the wolf was stupid. He remembers being told he was _brought back_. A spark of hope spreads throughout him.

Yotsuba Tamaki leaves the village and disappears into the forest. 


End file.
